The field of the invention is the production of bio-diesel or other synthetic biofuels from harvesting biomass from the open ocean. The production of biomass through agriculture on land is well known, including the growing of corn, which can then be converted to ethanol for addition to gasoline (gasohol). This is energy intensive and high cost, only being economically effective with crude oil at over $70 a barrel and is enhanced by tax advantages. Another difficulty is that there is not enough suitable land to make a significant impact on the crude oil consumption of the U.S. Only about 16% of the earth's surface is available for agriculture whereas 72% is open ocean. We have increased the productivity of the 16% by about 2000 times since we were hunter-gatherers, but in the ocean we are still hunter-gatherers. About 60% of the plant life that grows in the ocean arises from 2% of the ocean surface, an area around the edges of the continents and large islands. That leaves 40% to grow from the 98% of the open ocean away from land. If we could make some portion of that 98% more like the 2% we could greatly increase the fish production, sequester CO2 to the deep ocean or produce biomass for conversion to biofuel. The burning of this biofuel would not increase the CO2 content of the atmosphere since the carbon comes from the atmosphere through photosynthesis in the ocean.
The production of biomass in the open ocean can be enhanced by the addition of fertilizing elements to the ocean surface to produce more seafood catch. See the following U.S. patents:
Method of Improving Production of SeafoodU.S. Pat. No.5,433,173Method of Increasing Production of Seafood in the OceanU.S. Pat. No.5,535,701Method of Increasing Seafood Production in the BarrenU.S. Pat. No.Ocean5,967,087Method of Increasing Seafood Production in the BarrenU.S. Pat. No.Ocean with a Fertilizer Comprising Chelated Iron6,408,792 B1Method of Increasing the Fish Catch in the OceanU.S. Pat. No.6,729,063 B1
Since fish and zooplankton recycle CO2 to the ocean surface the fertilization should be done to minimize this loss of biomass in order to sequester CO2 in the deep ocean. See the following U.S. patents:
Method of Sequestering Carbon DioxideU.S. Pat. No.6,056,919Method of Sequestering CO2 with Spiral FertilizationU.S. Pat. No.6,200,530Method of Sequestering Carbon Dioxide with a FertilizerU.S. Pat. No.Comprising Chelated Iron6,440,367
The ocean currents and diffusion will gradually disburse the biomass created, which is generally in single cells and small aggregates. Therefore areas of the ocean surface must be found that keep the biomass created in a confined area and in a form suitable for harvesting. Once the biomass is harvested it must be processed to form components that are suitable for blending to make biofuels.